Premium
Dendritic cell immunotherapy for cancer: Application to low‐grade lymphoma and multiple myeloma
Author(s) -
Hart DNJ,
Hill GR
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
immunology and cell biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.999
H-Index - 104
eISSN - 1440-1711
pISSN - 0818-9641
DOI - 10.1046/j.1440-1711.1999.00859.x
Subject(s) - immunotherapy , idiotype , multiple myeloma , adjuvant , immune system , antigen , medicine , lymphoma , dendritic cell , active immunotherapy , cancer , cancer immunotherapy , immunology , cancer research , malignancy , antibody , monoclonal antibody
The confirmation that most cancers express one or more molecular changes, which may act as tumour‐associated antigens (TAA), combined with the knowledge that T lymphocytes recognize even single amino acid differences in MHC presented peptides has stimulated renewed clinical interest in immunotherapeutic strategies. Dendritic cells (DC) are now recognized as specialist antigen‐presenting cells, which initiate, direct and regulate immune responses. Recent data suggest that DC are not recruited into, or activated by, cancers and that other abnormalities in DC function are associated with malignancy, including multiple myeloma. This provides a rationale for designing immunotherapeutic strategies, which exploit DC as nature's adjuvant either in vivo or in vitro . Low‐grade lymphoma and multiple myeloma are slowly progressive malignancies, which generally express a unique immunoglobulin idiotype as a potential TAA. Data from animal models and clinical studies suggest that DC‐based immunotherapy strategies, applied when the patient has minimal residual disease, may improve the long‐term prognosis in these diseases.